Group 2

Omar Perez, Izumi Suzuki,

Daryl Apostol, Brianne Chinen,
Stacey Lacsina
Nursing 362
Health Care Policy
Bill Number: H.B. 599
Purpose: According to the University of Hawaii Medical Schools Hawaiian
physician workforce assessment project, there has been a recent shortfall of
physicians to meet the increased demand caused by an increase in
population aging and growth. This program has estimated that Hawaii will
have a shortfall of a 1000 physicians by the year 2020. In order to offset the
shortage of physicians, the legislature has proposed a pilot program to
provide tuition waivers within the Nursing Scholars Program for individuals to
obtain advanced degrees. It is the belief that nurses with advanced degrees
can perform similar functions that physicians complete such as patient
assessment, diagnosis, prescription, selection, and administration of
therapeutic measures such as over the counter drugs and controlled
substances. It is the goal of this bill to alleviate the shortage of physicians on
the island by providing nurses with advanced degrees to perform the same
tasks that a physician would normally do and meet the medical needs of the
aging and growing population in the state of Hawaii.
Some of the requirements of the bill are as follows: (1) 3.0 GPA (2) Work in
Hawaii for at least 5 consecutive years after graduation (3) and follow all
policies and guidelines provided by the school (4) If any part of the policies
within the contract are breached, the student must pay back the money
given. The scholarship chooses 10 students, however they give preference to
Hawaii residents.
Currently, the federal government offers a similar program under the Nurse
Corps Scholarship Program. It offers nurses an opportunity to pursue further
education by receiving funding for tuition, fees, and other educational costs
in exchange for working at an eligible critical shortage facility upon
graduation.
Significance: This bill would provide a great opportunity for nursing students
to continue their education in obtaining an advanced nursing degree with the
assistance of public funding. In todays economy, many nurses who obtain
their undergraduate nursing degree are unable to pursue advanced
education due to mounting student loans and student debt. This bill would
help to alleviate some of the financial costs in obtaining an advanced degree.

The medical needs of the community would also be met by providing more
Nurse Practitioners to compensate for the loss of physicians due to
retirement. In our opinion, this bill makes sense and is a win-win situation for
all parties affected if this bill should come into law.

References
Hawaii State Legislature (2014) HB999. Retrieved from:
http://www.capitol.hawaii.gov/session2015/bills/HB999_.htm
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (2014). Nurse corps
scholarship program.
Retrieved from:
http://www.hrsa.gov/loanscholarships/scholarships/nursing/